Bike Repair & Maintenance

It’s high Summer here in Kansas City, and a lot of folks are enjoying the long days on their bicycles. And as those miles pile up, or maybe as a new bike gets added to the stable, we get a lot of questions here at KC Tool about tools for bike repair and maintenance, so it seemed like as good of a time as any to take a quick peek at what we have to offer.

Now, for several years I was a professional bike mechanic, and if you get more than one of us in a room at a time, there’s bound to be heated discussions over the best way to do a task, and more importantly, the best tool to use for said task, so I’ll try to remain neutral here. Also, while we have a pretty broad array of tools on offer, there are a few that are very specific, and are only available from a bike shop. Nevertheless, most jobs require very few tools, and if you’ve ponied up a good chunk of your hard-earned cash on a sweet ride, it only makes sense to maintain it with the best, right? Also, I’ve decided to split this post into two parts, because torque wrenches have become increasingly important when working on bikes, and there’s a lot of information out there for the uninitiated.

Now, it pays to have a small kit on your bike just in case something does come up along the way. While we can’t help you with a spare tube and a way to inflate a spare (both of which you do carry, right?), Wera makes a handy set of tire levers that can help you swap out a tube in no time. If you happen to be running tubeless tires, there’s even a cutout on one of the levers to help you remove a Presta valve core. Also, if you want the ultimate in lightweight, Wera also makes a pair of nifty bits that can cover 3 – 6 mm hex sizes using the hex cutout on the other tire lever as a handle.


And while you can also buy one of those chunky multitools to work on hex bolts, personally I like carrying small individual Allen keys, just because I find it easier to reach all those awkwardly placed bolts that might loosen up. I like this small set. The chrome plating helps keep them from rusting, and they’re small enough to fit in my saddle bag - I just pick the sizes I need to keep on the bike. You can obviously also buy them individually. Take a quick look around your bike as well, because increasingly you might see a star-shaped Torx bolt somewhere, and it pays to have the right size! We sell individual Torx L-keys if you need to carry a particular size with you.

Now if you’re interested in doing some or all of your own maintenance at home, there are a few tools that are indispensable. First off, as more and more bikes and parts are being made of carbon fiber, it becomes important to make sure that you are tightening parts correctly: not tight enough and it becomes a safety risk, while too tight risks cracking those parts. So, having a torque wrench is a smart investment. We’ll cover those in more detail in the next post!

You’ll want a good set of metric Allen L-keys for your home too. Most professionals use the T-handle sets with a ball-end on one end and a normal on the handle end. They are the ultimate in both maneuverability and torque, but most of us can get by just fine with a good set of L-keys.

Here’s one more recommendation as well: buy a new Phillips #2 screwdriver. “What”, you say. “I have at least ten of those sitting around at home.” Well, by far the biggest producer of bike parts in the world is Shimano, based in Japan. And if you see any Phillips screws on your Shimano-equipped bike (think derailleurs especially), they are actually more than likely JIS Phillips screws. Unfortunately, if you use a standard Phillips screwdriver on those, the screws tend to get stripped out in a hurry. All of our screwdrivers at KC Tool conform to the new ISO standard which works even better on Phillips, but more importantly to us, works great on the subtly different JIS screws as well.


Other things that wear out on your bike that you can easily handle are cables and housing, and for those treat yourself to a good pair of steel cable cutters that will cut through them cleanly and easily. Also, Wera makes a nice chain tool set that allows you to remove enough links to fit the length you need, and a pair of pliers to join and remove the quick-link on the chain. Most pedals require a thin 15 mm wrench to tighten and loosen: Wera makes a nice compact one, and this can be a lifesaver if you need to remove your pedals for travel or service. Speaking of wrenches, if you don’t already have a set, you might consider a pliers wrench instead. They can take the place of a wide range of wrenches, won’t round off the hex head, and are super-handy for other tasks as well.


Two other tools I really like having around are a good pair of needle-nose pliers for grabbing the ends of cables, fishing a broken cable out of a shifter, or just generally holding something in tight quarters. Also, at the shop I used to make a small, pointy awl thingy out of a used spoke. They’re indispensable for opening the ends of cable housing, fishing out a broken cable end, poking ball bearings out of races, etc., but Stahlwille and Witte make great versions with much better handles than I used to turn out.

Maintaining your own bike should be a fun (or at least tolerable) task, and the nice thing about it is that you can decide how far down that path you want to go. I’ve tried to cover the basics, but look closely at your bike – you might need other tools not covered here (wrenches, sockets, etc.). Kudos to Wera Tools for making several sets specifically for bike maintenance (just search for bicycle on kctool.com), but most of our vendors make the necessary basic tools as well. So if you ‘re starting out, or you’ve finally got that dream bike, why not maintain it with quality tools from KC Tool. Questions? Give us a call or email us. At least one of us love to talk bikes.